Confused, Amused, Done With the World
by SilverStorm0
Summary: A nerd gets transported to the world of Fates, because what's more cliche than that? Magic and hijinks ensue as said nerd tries to survive, or perhaps thrive, in her strange new environment, all while trying to figure out why she of all people was chosen to carry out a mission in a world full of probably way more qualified people. What's with Azama? Because it fits. AU, SI.
1. So This is a Thing

**A/N Sooo… it's a (probably) shitty self-insert? Not much else to say. Yeah, I don't know why I started this either. It just kinda… happened. If you don't mind the humor in the first few sentences, you might like this.**

 **Until further notice, this is a one-shot and shall remain a one-shot, unless people want me to continue for some reason unknown to me.**

 **Also: SPOILERS, though I do hope the warning is unnecessary. I'll be referencing endgame stuff of a two year old game, so you have been warned. Not that it wasn't obvious enough.**

 **Until next time~**

 **-Storm 2017**

* * *

 _It all began with a dark and stormy night…_

Actually, y'know what? Fuck it, that's not how I'm going to start this. As accurate as that is, this story isn't nearly epic enough for something as dramatically clichè as that.

 _This_ is how it actually went down.

* * *

A sharp mechanical _ding_ , thudding footsteps, dulled blows to various limbs. I was dumped unceremoniously onto a couch, using all of my energy to not pass out from both exhaustion and alcohol, my head pounding. I'm fairly sure I was in the apartment I shared with a few others, but was definitely drunk enough that it could have been anywhere and wouldn't have cared much. It was probably one in the morning-ish. Yeah, let's go with one in the morning-ish. My cousin was there too, so that explained why I had been moved. She had probably stuffed me into someone's back seat to drive us home. Hehe… that mental image was pretty funny, mainly because my cousin, although older than me, was shorter than me by a good few inches.

I remembered… one of my friends had handed me one of those red solo cups. You know the ones. Assuming it was water, I had chugged the thing. What? I was thirsty... Anyways, bad move on my part, but it was too late. I had a concentrated amount of alcohol moving through my veins and it was already afflicting my judgment. Over the course of several increasingly fuzzy hours, I had definitely consumed more liquor, only making things worse.

"Uuugh… whose idea was it to bring out booze, anyway?" I managed to slur at my best friend-slash-cousin, who was standing above me, shaking her head in disappointment, but my mind was too muddled to even put two and two together, much less comprehend words. Hopefully no one would mind if I just blacked out on the couch…

"You're lucky I was there, Liz. I swear, you can be so trusting it's unbelievable. Did you really expect for college students to _not_ bring alcohol to a party?" She continued to shake her head as she chastised me, not that it was doing any good at the moment.

"Yessir," I giggled drunkenly at her once she had paused, before dropping my head onto the cushion, my fluffy hair already tangling against the fabric. The lecture continued afterwards, but the sound faded, falling into the back of my mind as I closed my eyes, completely, indubitably plastered.

* * *

"Ooof!" It was suddenly dark, the light source I had taken for granted earlier off. My side ached, I was completely disoriented, and my spinning head made me want to vomit. The alcohol still in my system wasn't helping either. It took a moment for me to understand that I had rolled off the couch in my sleep. Apparently my cousin had given up and left me to sleep it off. I gagged, spit-up working it's way up my burning throat.

 _Welp, not gonna be able to sleep now_ , I thought to myself, rubbing the side that had taken the brunt of the fall. I was still very much drunk, and was definitely not going to sober up by sleeping. I mentally cursed myself for dozing off; I had to get the booze out of my system before I could rest again, or else I could seriously hurt my internal organs. Standing as carefully as one could whilst shit-faced, I managed to get to the bathroom without throwing up, breaking anything or, hopefully, waking my roommates. After emptying the contents of my stomach into the toilet, I stumbled to my small room to find something to keep me awake. Practically falling onto my bed, I searched the bedside table, blindly flapping my arm around in the hopes it would hit first thing my fist grasped was a small rectangular prism, so familiar I could identify it at a touch. It was my 3Ds, a cartridge already in the system.

Turning the thing on, I blindly pressed the A button in hopes of selecting the game, my fine motor skills shot. It was Fire Emblem. Specifically, Fates. While not my favorite title, which was Echoes, it would do. Ever since playing Awakening I'd been hooked on the franchise, and Fates did not disappoint. Well, the story was… questionable at best, but the actual battle mechanics were still up to scratch. And also… the shipping. I'd be lying if I didn't say the shipping was definitely a reason I liked the games, but it was also the characters themselves that pulled me in. Actually, I'd just bleached my ridiculously curly hair so I could cosplay the default Corrin. I even had red contacts for it.

I started up the first non-classic file I saw; so sue me, there was no way I was ruining a play through just because I was drunk. Where'd I leave off on this one? Not even past the tutorial levels, apparently. I still had to let Hans be slaughtered by the generic samurai, something I always took some amount of pleasure in, even though he doesn't die. The dirtbag deserved it.

I was just about to watch my Corrin scare the living daylights out of him when the game froze. No matter what I did, I couldn't softreset or even turn it off. That's what I get for playing on a beat-up original 3Ds while drunk, I suppose. Plugging the thing in, I started searching for my laptop so I could try to work on a few of my stories. Pulling it from my computer bag, I booted it up and opened Google Docs, my preferred workspace. Within the asinine number of folders within folders, I found the one containing the chapters for my first publication; _Changing Fate_. The title's pretty misleading, as it's actually a novelization of Awakening, not Fates.

Opening the most recent chapter, I began typing whatever came to mind. Nearly every word was misspelled, but I would fix it later when I was neither drunk nor tipsy with exhaustion. However, despite my best efforts, I slowly drifted off to sleep, the screen glowing mechanically in the dark.

* * *

I groggily opened my eyes, expecting a hangover of momentous proportions, only for them to snap open. There wasn't one. Instead, it was only a loose cloud in the back of my mind. On the contrary, I was acutely aware of my surroundings, which were definitely not my room. I was on the cold, hard, lumpy ground, wind howling in my ears and rain pelting the rest. I was soaked and frozen to the bone, and had strong piercing gusts screaming in my face.

My first few thoughts? What the hell happened to my clothes, where am I, and why does this seem vaguely familiar?

Slowly rising to my haunches, I examined my apparel. Much to my confusion, I had on a set of armour with some sort of cloak on top. Not some cheap plastic thing you can get on ebay for thirty bucks that looks completely fake; actual metal armour that works as armour should, if its weight was any indication. I could distinctly feel the wind tearing at my thighs, like I didn't have a thick piece of clothing to protect them. Which I didn't. Which made no sense unless it was a seduction tactic, but even that idea didn't hold much water.

As for where I was, I was sitting on the ground next to a… cliff? No, a canyon. I could just barely see the outer edges through the dark storm, and rope bridges swinging wildly in the wind. So I was on an island of sorts in the center of a canyon in the middle of nowhere, soaked to the bone, without shoes. It's an understatement to say I was pissed. Standing up, I shouted out into the apparent night.

"What the hell?!" Not that it did any good, with the howling wind and pounding rain. If this was some elaborate prank someone was pulling on me for whatever convoluted reason, I was going to bring karma down on them with a vengeance. I wavered for a moment as reality started sinking in, when a sudden burst of pain hit the back of my head, and I blacked out for the third time.

* * *

I was getting really tired of waking up in strange places. What was worse was that I was getting used to it. I had a splitting headache, which made no sense since the one thing I clearly remembered was not being hungover, and felt bruised all over from when I had presumably hit the ground. I was dry, with some sort of sheet draped on top of me. I was also no longer wearing the armor. Sitting up, I realized that I didn't have anything on except what appeared to be lingerie, and was thankful for the sheet, which I clutched to my chest.

"Looks like you're up. Took you long enough. And, uh, sorry for the bump on your head," I whipped my head around, my ridiculous curls flopping about as I searched for the source of the strong yet effeminate voice. It was a young woman who had spoken. Wait… Rinkah? One of the characters from Fates was alive and standing in front of me. And, from the looks of it, I… I had taken Corrin's place? It couldn't be. But this was too real to put down as a joke. The woman who was supposedly Rinkah looked the part, as she was incredibly buff and the mask resting atop her white hair was incredibly detailed. Her abs were definitely not painted on. The cloth strip that covered her breast looked real too, not just sewn to a skin-colored or strapless bra. The rest of the room was scarily realistic as well, down to the intimidating club that rested against the wall.

"It's good to see you up, Kamui," The Flame Tribe warrior greeted me, apparently waiting for me to speak.

"Uhhh… what...? I'm not… my name's not Kamui…" Not the first thing that came to mind, but it was probably the first that would make sense to Rinkah. The warrior continued on as though she had expected this.

"I suppose they called you something else, right? So what is your name?" She asked, still under the impression that I was Corrin, or rather Kamui, Corrin's japanese name.

"No, you don't understand…" I said, trying to stop my voice from letting all of my fear and confusion break the dam that was my composure so I could at least be comprehensible. "I'm not who you think I am…" I would have continued, but my voice was not doing what I wanted it to, and clearly shook as I spoke. This time Rinkah frowned.

"You must be confused," She reasoned. "But it's impossible I'm mistaken. We have a trustworthy informant that said you were in the area, princess. Besides, don't you remember me?"

"But… I'm not a princess… I'm not even from around here," I shook my head, not trusting my vocal cords any longer.

Rinkah furrowed her brow, obviously confused herself. "That's impossible," the Oni Savage refused. "There's no way we made a mistake,"

"Besides," She continued, "if you aren't her, you could pass as her twin." I internally cursed my then bleached hair, which did make me look strikingly similar to the draconic princess. It took a second to process the other implications, though I didn't exactly have time to contemplate them.

"Assuming I believe you're not the princess," The warrior interrupted my increasingly startling train of thought. "Do you know what happened?" Rinkah asked skeptically. I shook my head despite already knowing exactly what had occurred. She sighed, evidently preparing to exposite the shit out of something I already knew.

"Nohr attacked the border fortress, and afterwards one of our warriors found you. We had orders that if anyone found Kamui to capture her, and assuming you aren't lying, you look nearly identical. You've been out ever since, so about three days, two on the back of a pegasus." I nodded again, compartmentalizing everything. It explained why my head hurt; I'd been out for three days from a concussion and probably some after-effect of being dragged through dimensions, like summoning sickness in Magic: the Gathering. So far, I'd hold my tongue about what I knew, but now my priorities were different.

"What's going to happen to me?" Rinkah shrugged.

"Don't know. Not even our shaman could wake you once we brought you here, so we thought you had some magic illness he couldn't detect. We couldn't interrogate you, so it fell to me to nurse you back to health. Now spill it; what were you doing there?" Her tone was friendly throughout, though she did take the club into her hands towards the end.

"I have no idea," I blurted, hoping she would believe me, as naive as it was. I really didn't want any more bruises. She snorted, clearly not impressed with my story. "However," I amended quickly, "I might know how to find Kamui."

"Why should I believe you? Any grunt would be able to say that; give me a reason not to attack." The warrior's tone turned threatening, and I shrunk backwards under the threat of her club, icy terror dripping to my stomach.

"I'm not a Nohrian soldier! I'm not even from Nohr! I have no idea how I got there, but I have a sort of prophetic ability. I might be able to help you," I was thinking on my feet and talking out of my ass, something which I would probably regret later. I had nearly encyclopedic knowledge of Fire Emblem in general which I could hopefully abuse to escape death. Still, that didn't change the fact I was terrified she would figure out the lie.

"Oh? Then tell me; who am I?" Rinkah, so far, hadn't introduced herself or the Flame tribe, so I was actually at a slight advantage. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, mustering up all of my lackluster acting skills to feign concentrating as though I were using some power.

"You are… Rinkah, daughter of the Chieftain of the Flame Tribe," She seemed impressed, but I continued. "We are currently in a Flame Tribe village in Hoshido. And, if I'm not mistaken, there should be a number of Hoshidan soldiers on the way here to collect me, still under the impression that I'm the princess. One of them will be a ninja who was also a prisoner with you in Nohr, only living by Kamui's graces." Rinkah was silent, and I hoped that I hadn't gone too far. Suddenly, she laughed.

"We'll see how accurate you are when they arrive," She grinned, though there seemed to be something off-putting about it. Maybe the intense mood whiplash. "If this ninja is with them as you say, then I'll believe your story. Until then, I suppose you'll have to stay here and gain strength in case you travel back with them." I nodded, and since my life was no longer in immediate danger, I focused on my other priorities.

"Er… could I have my clothes back?" I asked sheepishly, embarrassed that I even had to ask.

"Of course," She chuckled at my obvious discomfort. "I might get your armor to you eventually, too, but don't expect it anytime soon. Your clothes have been cleaned, and are in there." She motioned to a woven basket near the foot of the mat I was sitting on. I nodded again, to which Rinkah was apparently satisfied with and left me be, closing the sliding door behind her.

Now alone, I finally took in my surroundings. I was probably in a spare room given how bare it was, but I noticed a few details I hadn't before. The walls and door were made of paper, or at least partially so, making me think of Japanese housing. Actually, since I was apparently in Hoshido, this shouldn't have surprised me.

The mat I was perched on, a tonfoon I believe, was of long woven grasses, as with the floor, and there seemed to be a few other baskets of personal items or clothes. Keeping the sheet clutched to my chest in some act of unnecessary modesty, I scooted over to the basket my host had motioned to. Inside were the clothes Corrin wore beneath her armor; a black leotard and thigh-length black socks that were more like leg warmers than anything, considering that they left my feet exposed. No shoes, either. Figures. I slipped them on, and despite the leg warmer socks, I felt much more comfortable having done so.

I also noticed something around my neck as I changed; a semi-loose choker of solid metal, inlaid with some sort of gem. It didn't have a catch in the back, meaning there was no way I could take it off. Given that it was around my neck, I also had no clue exactly what it looked like, but it felt fairly thin and intricately carved like… waves? The oval gem in the center being the thickest part. It was also warm to the touch, probably why I hadn't felt it sooner, but that was most likely from body heat. The gem, however, was cold, like ice.

"Hello there," I squeaked as I stumbled backwards, my hands flying from my neck to the ground behind me, as there was suddenly a small blue reptile in my face. The Astral Dragon, Lilith, was floating in front of me with no more noise than a rabbit. There was a _dragon_ in front of me. Meaning that there was no chance of this being an extremely elaborate prank.

This… was either a dream or nightmare come true. I'd always been taken with the idea of magic. Being able to do pretty much anything you want so long as you practice hard enough really appealed to me. And here I was, in a world literally full of magic and dragons. But I was also stuck in a world of magic and dragons, both of which are very dangerous.

"Okay, Lilith is right in front of me. Deep breaths, Liz, deep breaths." I muttered to myself, struggling to calm my pounding heart. Too much too fast and way too many questions racing through my mind.

"So you _do_ know about this realm. Perhaps more than I."

 _Okay… now's not the time to freak out._

"Lilith, why am I here?" I started compartmentalizing everything. Again. I felt like that would be a recurring thing. I'd freak out later in private when there was no need for whatever I'd been dragged here for, if there even was a reason.

"I failed to catch Corrin when she went over the side of the Bottomless Canyon," the blue dragon admitted sheepishly.

"Ohhhhh," Suddenly everything, or at least most of what had happened so far (barring the fact that I was actually _there_ ), made sense. Because, y'know, traveling to a completely different dimension-slash-world is completely normal. Eh. I can roll with it.

"Without Corrin, you need someone to push along events so that Anankos won't destroy the world because he's bored," I summed up the entire plot of Revelations in the single sentence, albeit leaving out a few twists.

"Yes," Lilith confirmed. "To aid you in this task, the Great Moro has granted you a few gifts." The dragon added.

"That explains the costume change, I guess,"

Then Lilith added, "But I came to ask you a favor as well,"

Oh no. Oh nononono. Fuck this shit I'm out levels of "no thanks". She was going to ask for some ridiculous task that only I could complete because _reasons_. Video game logic doesn't work in real life, people!

"So, spill the beans," Might as well just get it over with now.

"Assuming that means yes, please help Corrin if you can. It's my fault she's stuck in that place, but I can't do anything about it," The little dragon explained. And… yup. She was looking at me with puppy eyes. Fucking. Puppy. Eyes. They always get to you.

After a beat of silence, I answered.

"Of course," I said while mentally screaming at myself. I could never turn down helping someone, even if I was way in over my head. Which I definitely was. I mean, seriously, why did I agree so readily? Could I even survive that long? But then again, those puppy eyes. Because those instantly mean you have to do whatever. I was going to have a hell of a time when Elise and Sakura joined. "But now you should go before Rinkah comes back. This could be difficult to explain."

"One more thing," Lilith added again. "That necklace you have, it can call upon me in the Astral Planes once per moon. It's basically a dragon vein, if that helps."

"Got it," I nodded. "I'll use it if I need to."

 _If I can even figure out how to..._

"I'll take my leave, then." With a small magic circle, Lilith left a flash in her wake, the light fading momentarily.

For the first time since arriving, I was truly alone with just my thoughts for company. They wandered to and fro, worrying about exactly what was going to happen. If I wanted to reach Valla, there was only one path I could take; Revelations. Technically Conquest, too, but given that only Corrin and Azura could pass into Valla via magical water gate, that wouldn't really work. I was also more familiar with Birthright, but I didn't want to leave two war-torn nations in my wake, and I certainly didn't want to lose any units.

 _No, they're people, not game pieces on a board!_

And… how would I get back? Could I even go back? And how much time would have passed if I did? I couldn't afford to suddenly disappear for years; I was riding mostly on scholarships, and I would definitely lose my job working minimum wage for ridiculous hours. What about my family? Friends? They would be worried sick. They might've thought I'd been kidnapped or something. It's actually kind of ironic, because I had been kidnapped; by a great and powerful dragon to another world entirely, all because Lilith let her grasp slip.

 _Whatever,_ I internally sighed. _What's done is done. I can't change the past, so I'll change the future._

Kind of sudden and happy-go-lucky, I know, but there really isn't much use of getting mad about something that's already happened. Besides, I didn't think Moro would even let me go back home until I at least saved Corrin.

 _Being stuck in the Fates universe? Kinda sounds like a shitty self-insert._

But this was not a bad fanfiction; this was real life.

"What're you staring into space for?" My attention snapped up to the open door, where Rinkah was leaning against the frame, a wooden bowl in one hand and a bucket in the other. There were also delicious smells wafting in on the light breeze that now moved through the room, along with the cold outside air. There was a moment where both my stomach growled and I shivered involuntarily due to the sudden temperature change.

"I've got a lot on my mind," I answered truthfully once I had settled. The fewer lies I tell, the less likely the ones I have told will be found out.

"Y'know, assuming you aren't Kamui, I don't remember you introducing yourself," The warrior observed, lifting a brow. "How about you do that now? It's actually kind of rude that you haven't yet."

"Oh, sorry," I apologised quickly, attempting to stand on shaky legs as I did so. Key word "attempting". Instead, I ended up stumbling back onto my knees, Rinkah snickering in the background. Not wanting to repeat my folly, I settled for bowing stiffly from the floor, my hair tumbling off my back. I said, "I'm Elizabeth, Liz for short; nice to meet you," before straightening out.

"No need to be formal," Rinkah laughed. "It's not like I'm royalty or anything. Here, you must be hungry," She held out the wooden bowl, the source of the wonderful scent that made me realize exactly how hungry I was; which was starving. Back home, everyone always joked about how I was a veritable vacuum, which gave me a twinge of melancholy.

"Thank you," I said, pushing that thought aside and accepting the dish, which I recognized to be miso soup.

"We can't have you starving before the Hoshidans get here," She shrugged, though I knew her supports well enough that I could tell she did somewhat care for my well-being.

As I devoured my meal, Rinkah explained what her father had decided to do with me.

"Since your claim not to be Nohrian is plausible, Father has decided to let you roam the village during the day once you've recovered enough. You'll stay here with us, though, just in case, and will be monitored at all times by one or more of our warriors." I just nodded, not wanting to speak so I didn't accidentally ruin the whole thing and because, well, food.

"You mentioned a shaman, yes?" I asked once I was done. Rinkah nodded.

"He's our main healer, though everybody knows one or two simple remedies. If anyone falls extremely ill and cannot be cured, it's up to him to confer with our God as to what to do. Now that you bring it up, there was nothing he could do to wake you up. Not even conferring with the Fire God," She finished by shaking her head.

"Then… would you mind if I spoke to him?" He might have gleaned some insight about who I was by talking to this Fire God, and I wanted to know exactly what he knew.

"I don't see a problem with it. But that visit will have to wait." Right. I was still extremely weak, given how just standing was an issue.

"For now, you can clean up with this," Rinkah placed the wooden bucket on the ground, the contents being water and what I assumed to be a wash cloth.

"Oh. Uh, thanks." I managed to say. Rinkah just stood there, while I awkwardly looked abashed at the ground. Eventually she chuckled as it dawned on her of my reluctance to strip. She stepped out of the room, then closed the door most of the way, so that only a tiny crack remained. The warrior leaned against the sliver, blocking what little view there was left.

"We of the Fire Tribe are not ashamed of our bodies," Rinkah started explaining as I took off my shirt. The door muffled her speech a little, but I was glad for the company. "Except when with the opposite sex, but I suppose then it is natural for most."

That made plenty of sense, given how Rinkah was effectively walking around with just a bra on top.

I paused as I held the bucket. There, in the water, was what apparently my reflection. My earlier fears were proven true as I started at the nearly alien face on the surface. Red irises, ears pointed enough to not draw attention yet different enough that if you knew they were pointed, would seem obvious. Compounded with my bleached hair, and I could have passed as Corrin's twin.

The thing around my neck also came into view: a silver choker inlaid with a single blue gem. The metal was carved into waves, as I had felt earlier. I had literal gray waves on my neck. There's no words to explain the heavy-handed symbolism someone had, for all I knew, _permanently_ stuck around my neck. It was like somebody was screeching _You're a main character!_ in my ears.

"You done yet?" Rinkah called back, breaking my self-induced daydreaming.

"N-no, sorry,"  
"Hurry up,"

This, was going to be difficult, not that any of my machinations attempting to delve deeper into how much shit I was in were saying otherwise.

* * *

So I spent two weeks learning to walk again, and it was just as fun as it sounds. Lots of me walking from one side of the room to the other and back again over and over. When it wasn't painful, so after the first week, it was boring. Boring boring boring boring booooooooooooooring. The only breaks in said pain and boredom were when I was given my meals and bucket-bath, and Rinkah's visits. She popped in once a day or so, sometimes to deliver my meals, sometimes just to talk. Probably just to check on my progress, but it was comforting to have some semblance of a routine.

Eventually, she said the words I had been hoping and dreading to hear.

"Looks like you're well enough to go about life," the tribeswoman commented as she watched me demonstrate how I was doing.

"Time to meet the shaman?"  
"Time to meet the shaman."

She turned to exit the room, pausing to motion for me to follow. We padded through the quiet halls, to an open sliding door that revealed the outside world.

The mountains themselves were beautiful, if not chilly, and the sky above clear but for a few wispy stratus clouds. The village was on a plateau that looked down on a gorgeous valley; a fast flowing river gurgled its way through the center, untamed plants of both deep and light hues concentrated near the bottom, and became more scraggly and spread out as they worked their way up.

At first I though the valley was shrouded in fog, but then I realized why the sky was so empty. We were just above the cloud cover. This was also the reason why there was no snow in the village despite it being early to mid spring. At least, that's roughly when Corrin was in the village, if Shirasagi's blooming cherry trees were to be believed. The air must have been very thin, but I suppose I'd gotten used to it while I had been out.

My breath condensed immediately after hitting the cold air, and I wondered why exactly I wasn't freezing as well; then I remembered that I had lived with rapidly fluctuating temperatures and completely unpredictable weather patterns all my life. I was practically immune to extreme temperatures, on both ends of the scale. At least, I was for the first minute, then the cold reached my bones and I was freezing along with my breath.

"J-jeez… how d-do you live h-here?!" I managed to say through chattering teeth.

"We of the Flame Tribe have fire running through our veins," Rinkah said it proudly, as though it was an impressive feat she had just accomplished. When I didn't respond because I was freezing, she started walking and again waved for me to follow. As we made our way through the village, me shivering like a maniac, my unexplainable nerves kicked in when I noticed some of the locals staring at me. Some had curiosity, others hostility. All of them made me feel self-conscious, and I literally started following Rinkah like a lost duckling, looking down to avoid having eye contact with anyone. I can stand on a stage and perform, but I can't go anywhere new without feeling extremely uncomfortable. Weird, right?

The chieftain's daughter led me through the wooden houses, all of the same japanese style as the one I had woken in, if not smaller and a little plainer. There was one oddity among them; it was on the small side even compared to the others, and had beads and curtains strung behind the open door.

"In here," Rinkah stopped at the bottom of the steps that led to the door, motioning for me to go up.

"You're not coming?" I was seriously freaking out now. I had to go into somebody's house _alone_ , who also happens to be the wisest person in the village. I could temporarily deal with being torn from everything I knew and loved, but walking into somewhere new and foreign alone? No thank you.

She shook her head.

"Whatever you speak of is no business of mine." I could almost feel myself tensing up with anxiety. Okay, I could do this. I could go into the shaman's house and talk to him.

I nodded to Rinkah to show I understood, and tepidly walked up the wooden steps. I approached the half-open door, knocking timidly on the frame. Then a split-second panic attack happened. Was I disturbing him? Would he be mad if I did? Would he even have answers my questions? What if he refused to answer them?

"Come in," The voice was cracked with age and kindly, seeming to have a tone of unearthly wisdom. It calmed me enough to actually move again. Doing as it said, I brushed aside the hanging beads. Clack, clack, they bumped against each other in the incense-filled air. I let them fall behind me, clinking against each other again. It was pleasantly warm despite the cold draft that flowed in from the open door.

"Close the door, child," The kindly voice rasped, "We wouldn't want you catching cold," I set about the task, murmuring apologies. Immediately the temperature rose, becoming quite cozy, but the bright natural light from outside was also cut off, leaving just the candles to light the small-ish room. Standing awkwardly at the entrance, I stared at the ground, anxiety swelling in my chest again. What was I supposed to do? Would it be rude to just sit down and expect him to do something? Or was I being rude by not saying anything?

"There is no need to be so nervous, child," The shaman chuckled in his weathered voice. "Come, sit down. I don't bite," I looked up, peering into the candlelight. The shaman looked the part, appearing almost like Gondi in monks' robes, carved wooden beads on a large necklace around his neck. He was sitting cross-legged on a mat, near to a central fire that heated the room. He motioned to another mat directly across from him, which I knelt upon, sitting on my feet. I've always found it more comfortable that way instead of the whole "criss-cross-applesauce" thing.

"What is your name, child?" A friendly greeting, the silence not oppressive as I found my voice.

"...Liz,"

"Why have you come to me, Liz?" The Gondi incarnate asked.

"Information," I answered after a pause, my poor excuse for confidence returning now that I was sitting down and less exposed.

"And what information would that be?" A glint in his eye told me that he already knew.

"You tell me,"

Humour leapt into his voice as he answered. "There are many, many things I could tell you, child. What would you like to know first?" I contemplated the question for a moment.

"Why do you keep calling me 'child'?" He outright laughed, a deep, hearty sound.

"Because you are one. I am exponentially older than you, so in comparison you are a child."

"Fair enough," I conceded. "Question two; do you know why you couldn't wake me?" This would be the question that told me exactly how much this guy knew. He chuckled a little, and at once I knew he'd caught onto what I was doing.

"I believe your body is still adjusting to this world, so our magic does not affect you as it does us," Oh yeah, he knew.

"And will that change?" I pressed anxiously. I really didn't want to be immune to healing magic if I was going to have to fight in a technically four-way war. Or any war, for that matter.

"As you breath our air, eat our food and drink our drink, your body should slowly become more receptive to it." He answered assuredly, and I let out a sigh I didn't know I was holding, unnoticed tension releasing from my muscles. After my moment of relief, I asked something else.

"So you know who, or rather what, I am?" He chuckled again, as though talking to me amused him.

"You are a confused child sent here through the Dragon's Gate to help, though help with what I know not." I nodded, showing that I understood his terminology.

"I know what I'm here for, and have some idea of how to do it, but… I'm scared…" My voice was cracking. Great. I was on the verge of tears. Believe it or not, but I actually quite wasn't so upset that I was crying. It's more like at some point growing up, my body had realized that shedding tears when I was upset brought me empathy. Damn my child self for learning to cry to receive attention.

"Will I ever be able to go back?" I blinked, trying my best to prevent the unintentional partially-false tears from spilling over. The shaman shook his head.

"I do not know, dear child, but I do know that you will not be alone," For some reason, that comforted me more than I think anything else he could have said. I wasn't alone, because I knew that people I would meet would support me. Probably. Well… except for the racist pineapple. It would take awhile for him to warm up to me. And Saizo, but that guy didn't trust anyone. Actually no one would be especially hospitable to me, aside for maybe Rinkah, Hayato, Mozu and the little sisters.

"Thank you," I said, regaining my composure and standing on legs that were starting to fall asleep. "For speaking with me."

"Of course, child," He smiled gently at me, then turned serious. "You need all the encouragement you can get," I nodded, turning to leave, when I heard one last thing. "Good luck, Liz." Smiling to myself, I opened the door and stepped out into the ridiculously cold air. Yeah… I'd need all the luck possible.

And I'd also need better clothes, because it was _fucking cold_.

* * *

 **A/N This is absolutely a self insert, but Liz is not my real name. The backstory of Liz is not real, though it's about as real as I can get it without being boring. Even though it kinda already is... She's also about 19-20ish (not my actual age as of uploading this). If people actually like this, then I'll solidify it in a later chapter.**

 **If you see any typos or mistakes, feel free to tell me. I don't bite... usually. But seriously, everything helps.**

 **So now me spewing whatever comes out of my brain:**

 **Other stuff… My inner muse likes this one atm, so I already have several ideas as to make Fates' story make some semblance of sense. And also easily make a hot spring scene with what I have, because the best way to attract attention is flashing boobs and butts. Or just mention Camilla. Eh, if I do continue this, then it'll be awhile 'til Camilla joins the party.**

 **I kinda dislike how many times I jump-cutted in the first bit. Didn't really flow well. But I think it ended decently. There was supposed to be more scenes from other characters' views used to establish tone and whatnot, but I ended up scrapping them because they didn't really fit. Three guesses as to where they were before I cut them, if you win here's an internet cookie.**

 **So don't you just hate when you think of all your best ideas in the dead of the night with nothing at the ready to write them down? Because here I am a 1:30 in the morning typing this out, only a few days before the school season starts. Kill me please (don't actually. It would involve you having to figure out where I live and I don't fancy the idea of a stalker).**

 **Until next time~**

 **-Storm 2017**


	2. It's Back

**A/N So I'm back. Not much else to say, really. People seem to like this, so here I am, back with another chapter because it's been requested. I'm also looking for a few common SI tropes to parody or something, so anything in particular you want to see me make fun of? I'll try not to beat any dead horses *cough Babyrealms cough*.**

 **Also, something I should have mentioned last time. If you haven't finished Revelations or at least been spoiled about the ending and/or haven't worked it out yourself, this won't make much sense. There's so many references to highly spoiler-y plot points that I just had to mention it again. I could always try to omit spoilers, but a good portion of the comedy comes from Liz already knowing events and characters and contemplating them/laughing at the other characters along with the audience.**

 **I was also planning to update this tomorrow as a birthday present to myself, but I won't have access to my laptop until oh-my-god at night, so here it is a day early.**

 **Until next time~**

 **-Storm 2017**

* * *

After recovering enough to exercise, the time I spent with the Fire Tribe can be summed up like this: Wake up, eat, train, eat, train some more, eat, take a bath, brush hair, relax or do laundry (usually the latter), crash. Every day. Every single goddamn day. They were running me ragged with swordplay, stamina exercises and anything else they could force my limbs to do before they gave out. Mind I was already quite familiar with blades and bows due to a little thing called the SCA (Google the keyword "Pennsic", which'll give you a decent explanation. 'Cause I ain't explaining that, unless you want a full chapter's worth of me doing so). But my life was still a living hell.

Why, you ask? Well, it was partially my fault. If I was gonna survive in a world of magic and dragons, I would eventually have to fight. So after I could comfortably jog around, I asked to train with Rinkah, who did so nearly daily. Since I was incredibly weak compared to absolutely everyone else in the village, they allowed it. And I agreed with their line of thinking. There was no way I could actually escape, not that I particularly wanted to. Aside from the hellish training regiment I insisted on participating in, I had a fairly comfortable existence.

But enough of that: I wanna complain, damnit!

I would collapse every break, sometimes gasping for breath, throw up if I had eaten within the hour, chug some slushie water while recovering, then get back on my feet so I could be thrown to the ground again. To be honest, the water _did_ taste really good, if not freezing, but the swath of large bruises left all over my body weren't exactly worth it.

And let me tell you; tonfoons are hell to sleep on if you're sore. I'd kill to have a soft mattress again if it meant no more waking up worse than when I'd dropped.

Another thing that happened, thankfully much to my relief, was that healing magic was starting to actually work on me. Which meant that the Shaman could somewhat patch me up after every training session. From what I could tell, magic accelerated the rate at which the body mended itself, so it wasn't exactly an end-all cure-all like I had hoped, contrary to what Lissa, Elise, Genny and almost every other healer in Fire Emblem had taught me.

The most frustrating thing about it all was that I was already in decent shape when the intense training began. Had I been out of shape, which would not be surprising given that I'm a couch potato of the highest order, I could have understood why I was being pummelled so badly. But I was very much in shape due to the SCA. Also, if Rinkah had a base strength growth of twenty percent, what would Sakura be like? Maybe the onii-chan memes were right on this one.

Once a week or so, we took a day to rest and recover, and I was free to wander the village and a little of the surrounding mountainside. I was always under strict supervision, like a toddler they were afraid was going to fall off the mountaintop, but I supposed they made me feel as welcomed as they could given the circumstances.

It was the day the Hoshidan soldiers arrived, about a month into my 'captivity' at the Fire Tribe's village, that I remembered something extremely important; the shipping. In the game, all of the couples were devised by the player, but this was real life. So… I had total control over who paired up with who. Okay, maybe not total control, but still. And then there were my personal favorite husbandos. In Awakening, I only really had one. In Fates, the developers took it up a notch with the number of units I had a personal attachment to: I had three this time, one of whom was Kaze. The ninja's dedicated and somber personality had always struck a chord with me, and it didn't hurt that he was very attractive.

Back to the shipping. I had some say in who ended up with who. I was _literally_ playing Cupid for the entire roster of characters available in Fates. Which also brought up the subject of the child units. The games had shoehorned in the Babyrealms to bring back the child unit mechanic from Awakening, but there was no guarantee that would translate to real life. If so, it was going to be a pain in the ass to deal with.

But enough of actual productive thinking! Shipping takes priority. Gunter was definitely going to be alone, along with most of the other Corrinsexuals... Except for Scarlet, because she'd totally be with Ryoma, regardless of actual supports. Ironic, how one of the most unanimously agreed upon ships was literally impossible in the actual game. I was in the Fates universe, damnit! I was going to have my way regardless and was not constrained by the mechanics of a video game. Since I knew what would happen, I could prevent her death, as well as Izana's. I would save as many people as I could, so long as I had the foreknowledge to do so. I didn't want to cause any pain and suffering; I took a neutral outlook in most arguments because I don't like pissing anyone off, so Revelation's path actually suited me well.

Wait… Mikoto.

All of my thoughts came to a screeching halt as I thought of her untimely demise.

How was I going to save her? Was it even possible? If I did manage to, what effect would it have on the rest of the game? Er- timeline. This wasn't a game anymore. If I kept thinking like that, I, or someone else, would probably end up dead. But then my dilemma: Could I save Mikoto without royally screwing up everything? Or was this one of the numerous outrealms that ended with everybody dying? It _is_ canon that there are multiple Fates' universes because of that stupid DLC pack, the… Heirs of Fate? Yeah, that one.

Back on topic: Mikoto's death at the beginning of chapter five was one of the biggest catalysts for the entire story. Could I remove that Jenga block and not have the entire tower come crashing down? And did I really just come up with that lame-ass metaphor?

That being said, would Mikoto even be in danger? Ganglari was supposedly with Corrin, in Valla, so it couldn't exactly blow up in the square. There would be no reason for the royals to gather in the square to begin with.

"They're here," I looked up, Rinkah's voice startling me out of my thoughts. I was perched on a large flat stone a short distance from the village, well within sight of Rinkah's house, looking out over the valley. Once I had adjusted to the temperature, I actually found it quite pleasant. Usually. It probably helped that the Flame Tribe had given me pants and shoes. It was more a fine line of slightly chilly and freezing cold, and tended to fluctuate from day to day. Training kept me warm most of the time, but my limbs always seemed to go numb.

"Coming!" I called back at Rinkah, who was tapping her foot impatiently. I leapt to my feet, jogging to where she was waiting for me. I slowed to a walk, and she lead me into the chieftain's house. I also felt that something was unnerving her, maybe it was her unusually sharp demeanor or how she kept glancing at me out of the corner of her eyes, but it was probably just my overactive and distracted imagination.

"The soldiers are being debriefed about your situation by my father," She said suddenly, not looking at me. I gave a monosyllabic answer in response. More silence, and we were at the entrance to the sort of common area inside the house before I knew it. I could hear muffled voices through the paper walls, but I couldn't distinguish what they were saying.

"Father, I ask permission to enter." Rinkah called clearly through the door, and we waited for a moment before he answered assent. Sliding it open, we stepped into the room where the Hoshidans, about half a dozen of them, were assembled along with Gondi incarnate and the chief himself. Rinkah's father was a man of large proportions, who looked similar to his daughter through the same white hair and ridiculous muscle mass. He stood over six foot, and was very intimidating despite the usually friendly airs he put on.

The first thing I noticed was that the room was now dead silent. A moment ago, there had been a quiet buzz of chatter as they talked among themselves, but now I could have dropped a pin and heard it hit the floor. Everyone was looking at us, and I didn't like the looks they were giving me specifically, mainly because my nerves were acting up again. I became aware that on the way there, I had crossed my arms over my stomach in an act of anxiety, and they were still there. My hands were gripping the fabric of my shirt in an iron grip, the palms already becoming damp. I started chewing on my lip, a nervous habit of mine, and I couldn't meet anyone's eyes. The choker that had been stuck around my neck via magical means seemed tighter, and I had a harder time swallowing.

I managed a glance upwards, scanning the unfamiliar faces. A few were curious, others dismayed and… yes, there he was. Kaze was there. I felt relief washing over me in waves. My educated bluff earlier had proven correct. Now I just had to convince them to take me to Castle Shirasagi so I could get the ball rolling. Something in my expression or body language must have changed, because the ninja had a look of confusion flash across his face. I couldn't be sure, though, as it was only there a moment. The chieftain nodded, a sign that I should say something.

"Hello…" I managed that and a small wave before reverting to my previous extremely introverted and awkward ways of staring at the floor. Over the next hour or so we were both ushered to sit with the rest, and discussion about what to do with me ensued. I spoke very little, and nearly always in monosyllabic words until the topic of my 'prophetic powers' came under scrutiny. It was passed back and forth like a hot potato before it came to rest squarely on my shoulders, and I was unable to escape the focus.

"How does this prophetic ability work?" It was Kaze who had asked. He was staring directly at me, so it was all too clear who the question was for. All the others followed suit, Fire Tribe members included.

"It's hard to explain…" I was stalling for enough time to patch together a realistic answer, though it would not last long. Thankfully, I had contemplated that same question ever since I had first used the excuse.

"I'm sure you'll think of something," The ninja prompted again after a moment. A reasonable amount of time had passes, so I answered.

"Well… it's not really something I can control," That bit was true enough. "It usually manifests as intuition, which so far has not often been wrong. Sometimes I can forcibly cause names, images or phrases to surface, but that is much more difficult to do. On very rare occasion, I can see full events of the past, but I've yet to cause it purposefully." I shrugged. Apparently my acting skills and fast thinking were adequate, as everyone seemed to buy it. Besides the shaman, who knew I was lying through my teeth. Hopefully it would be enough to gain me entry to the Hoshidan capital, providing that the old guy wouldn't tattle on me.

"We have proficient future-seers already, and our very Queen has prophetic sight," One of the soldiers said. "What need do we have for an unreliable seer?"

"Can any of your people find your stolen princess?" I sniped back on impulse, regretting it a moment later as I realized what I had said. Looking down into my lap shamefully, I waited to be rebuked. To my surprise, someone backed me up.

"Liz does make a point," My head shot up. It was Gondi. Er… you know what? His name's Gondi now. Now that I thought about it, the only one who hadn't spoken up so far had been him.

"Shaman, no disrespect, but how could you know that she speaks the truth?" It was Kaze. He was probably only doing his best to protect Hoshido from suspicious prophetesses who had absolutely no credit to their names whatsoever, but it still kinda stung. The shaman laughed, the same warm, hearty sound I remembered.

"Child, the Fire God tells me many things. If Liz has the blessings of the Fire God, there is no room for me to question her trustworthiness." He said this with a tone of finality, as if that sealed the deal and they had to cart me to the capital regardless.

"Since when did she receive this blessing?" Rinkah asked through clenched teeth, looking as though she was trying not to explode, which wouldn't have surprised me if she could.

"Why, Rinkah dear, didn't I say so at the beginning?" He had a slightly confused look on his face, as though he was trying to remember.

"No, you didn't," She ground out.

"Whoops, I meant to. Must have slipped my mind," Gondi dismissed absent-mindedly, a huge shit eating grin spreading across his face. Oh no, he had totally left that little bit of information out on purpose. Everybody glared at him with either annoyance, tiredness or a strained polite smile. And I mean the 'I'm done with you' kind of tiredness that usually only comes up around younger siblings or that one friend that you don't know why you're friends with.

"I can also back her claims," Rinkah admitted begrudgingly after everyone was done glaring at Gondi. "To prove to me that her claims were true, she predicted that one specific person would be in your group, and even provided personal details that she couldn't have known any other way. That prediction has held true." Oh… _that's_ what was unnerving her earlier. I was right, and it made her uncomfortable that anyone else had known of her moment of weakness. It seemed to me that Kaze and Rinkah locked gazes for a second, but again it was gone before I could really think about it.

Their speeches appeared to convince the Hoshidans of my worth. It seems that being a chieftain's daughter has some advantages. I wondered… would I be able to use that influence? Now, normally I'd balk at even thinking of exploiting someone for any reason. But now I was responsible for _saving the world_ , and I should be able to have fun every once in awhile.

The back-and-forth banter slowed to a crawl, making me both relieved and nervous. They were finding fewer and fewer reasons to leave me here, and those they did find were decreasingly valid. In the end, the decision was practically unanimous to take me to meet Queen Mikoto, and she would make the final decision. Which led to me pondering how I was going to handle that issue when the time came. I did manage to catch that the Hoshidans would be staying the night, we would depart for the capital in the morning, and that Rinkah would be coming too. To be honest, I didn't think that she would have let us leave without her. The meeting was over, and almost everyone else had already filed out. As I was about to exit the room, Gondi put a hand on my shoulder as he passed, and I could hear him say something in a low voice.

"That's all I can do for you, child. You'd better succeed." It stopped me in my tracks, stunned. He had lied about me being blessed, whatever that meant. After a few moments, I snapped out of my stupor with a fit of silent laughs and a smile. That old man would never cease to confuse and comfort me.

Apparently, the Hoshidans would be occupying a couple of the guest rooms in the chief's house; one for boys and one for girls. Since we were to leave the day after, my schedule had changed from having my ass kicked repeatedly to preparing for the journey ahead. I was supplied with a pack full of waterskins, dried rations, various miscellaneous items and what appeared to be a sleeping bag. And a hairbrush, Mila bless. No, I'm not exaggerating. Seriously, unless you have long, thick, extremely curly hair and can't condition it effectively, you know not my pain. I was also given my armour back, with strict instructions not to put it on until next morning at the earliest. Other than that, my day was fairly uneventful until just after I had bathed.

* * *

The village was located next to a few hot springs, the largest of which was a mixed bath, two slightly smaller ones that were sex specific and a few even smaller that were reserved for important people. The springs all had paths that joined in a building where there were small cubbies and changing rooms. I was given access to the female only spring, and Rinkah often joined me. Sometimes other villagers did, too, but I was still an outsider and they tended to avoid me regardless of friendliness. That evening, I bathed alone, Rinkah choosing to use one of the private springs. I was in the commons holding a woven basket of bathing supplies and my dry clothes, on my way to change, when I thought I could see something moving out of the corner of my eye, or maybe my ears were just picking up an echo off the walls. Either way, I could sense something

"Who's there?" I whipped around to find myself mere inches from someone who looked as surprised as I felt, though I couldn't make out specific details because they were too close. I made a very undignified squeaking sound and jumped backwards, instinctively dropping the basket, which inadvertently spilled the contents. I reactively crossing my arms over the towel that covered my semi-flat chest. Okay, mostly flat chest. A-cup angst, justice over plot, call it whatever you like. I had small boobs and it usually didn't bother me, except when guys saw me in a state of undress.

"K-kaze?" That was who was right in front of me all right, in full ninja attire. He didn't even have the decency to look embarrassed.

"You could sense my presence?" He was acting normal, as though he hadn't just crept up on me while I was wearing nothing but a towel.

"Aren't there more important questions you could ask right now? Such as, oh, I dunno, why you're sneaking up behind me? There are serious implications about stuff like that!" I was still collecting my thoughts, and that probably wasn't the best reaction, but it was what I could do. I could already feel myself blushing furiously.

"A ninja's skill is always top priority for him. All personal matters can wait," He said dutifully, completely ignoring what I had been trying to tell him. Or just being oblivious, it's hard to tell with Kaze.

 _Oookay… I can go with that and not make a fool of myself. Probably._ Forcing my blush down, I took a couple deep breaths in hope of calming my heart, which was racing with adrenaline. It kinda worked, so I continued.

"I'll answer you after I put clothes on," I said with finality, and he seemed to realize that I was in a towel and nothing else, as his cheeks turned pink.

"Oh, uh… my apologies," He apologised, flustered. He took a step backwards, and through some sort of ninja magic or skill, he vanished.

And now it's time for Liz's random thought of the day! Apparently the colossal anime titan that is Naruto hadn't made me realize this, but _ninjas are cool_.

Shaking my head, I grabbed the dropped basket and shut myself into one of the the changing rooms. Inside was about what you would expect; a four-by-six space with a bench against the back wall. I sank atop said bench, letting my head rest against the wooden plank wall beside me. I let out a breath, forcing myself to relax. Letting the towel drop, I slipped on this world's version of underwear and clothes the tribe had leant me, which consisted of this world's version of yoga pants and a tight-fitting shirt that had a surprising range of motion. Feeling much more comfortable, I walked out and, lo and behold, there was the ninja.

"I apologise for my inappropriate behavior," Kaze said with a small bow, still flustered. His gaze was on the ground, carefully controlled as not to let it wander to a more inappropriate focus on accident.

"It's fine," I shrugged it off along with my remaining tension. There wasn't exactly a way to change what had happened, and besides… I could always use this against him later. As I deposited my dirty towel into the designated basket, I asked, "You wanted to ask me something?"

"Yes," He nodded in confirmation, still looking at the floor.

"How about we go outside, then? I doubt you'd want anyone overhearing if you've waited so long to ask." I started walking towards the door, the somber ninja presumably following, but I couldn't tell. Ninjas be ninjas, after all.

The outside air was crisp, not as cold as I thought it might be, and the moon was already out, the waxing crescent hanging in the sky halfway to midnight. I lead Kaze towards what had become my favorite spot in the village; the flat boulder overlooking the gorgeous valley below. Crickets and other night insects chirped, a few owls called out and in the distance a pack of wolves howled faintly. I noncommittally wondered if they were wolfskins, but pushed the thought aside. Perched on the rock, my arms around my legs, out of my peripheral vision I could see my company hesitantly sitting a few feet away. I could tell that the Fire Tribe didn't have anyone within hearing range, probably because Kaze was with me. I took the initiative.

"You were wondering how I could sense you?" He nodded.

"To be honest, even I don't know," I shrugged, but couldn't tell his reaction because I was looking out over the mountainside, "But it might've been because I have sensitive ears, or perhaps the building is naturally echo-y. I've been a musician for over a decade at this point; it wouldn't surprise me if either is the reason, or perhaps both. And no, I'm not going to help you train because I can sense you. I don't particularly feel like playing cat and mouse." I finished with a chuckle, having used one of Orochi's signature lines. When he didn't respond, I glanced back over, and he looked deep in thought, if not somewhat troubled. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke.

"Rinkah told me what you had predicted," It was a statement, no room for question.

"You don't want anyone else to know?" I asked, unsure of what exactly he wanted.

"No," Kaze shook his head. "I want to know if there is anything else you've seen that you failed to mention," He wanted to know where Corrin was.

I looked up at the sky again. "I don't know exactly where she is, or how I'm going to, but I'll find her," I said, and out of the corner of my eye, he looked down at the ground. It was true enough, though I had a pretty good idea. I decided to take a gamble; a very risky one at that. Releasing my legs, I shifted so that I was looking into Kaze's green eyes. They were a pretty shade of emerald.

"I need you to promise me something." I definitely had his attention now, as he stopped staring at the ground and returned my gaze, albeit with some amount of wariness.

"I don't know exactly when, but relatively soon something very important will happened, and you will be presented with a choice. A choice to continue on the path set in front of you now or blindly follow a new path that you feel is the right one," I paused, waiting for a reaction. When he said nothing, I continued.

"Promise me that you'll remember my plea, that you'll follow your instincts when that choice arises, regardless of personal blood ties or allegiances," I paused again, realizing exactly what I was asking him. Or, at least what it sounded like I was asking. Looking up at the moon, I continued in a softer voice. "I know what this sounds like, and I don't blame you for thinking that. But I'm not asking you to betray Hoshido. I'm not the enemy. Not even that bastard Garon is truly the cause of all this heartache." I froze, and Kaze looked at me with a mix of startlement and curiously.

 _Shit_.

"I can't say any more," I said suddenly, standing quickly, trying to escape the pit I'd dug for myself.

"Why not?" He sounded alarmed, not that I would blame him. I'd have much the same response.

"I'm sorry, but I can't explain," I turned around to leave, but one does not simply escape a ninja. A hand grasped my wrist, preventing me from fleeing. As I turned apprehensively, he asked me something.

"Can't or won't?" It caught me off guard. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but that wasn't it.

"Both," I answered truthfully, but before he could reply I continued. "But know my main goal is finding the princess," I let him soak that in.

"Why do you believe I would be swayed by that?" His expression was guarded and voice carefully neutral. I sighed tiredly, shaking my head.

"Because she would forgive you in a heartbeat. You could try to make it up to her, but she wouldn't see it that way. She would see a friend who's unnecessarily suffering. You were just a kid; you didn't know any better," Kaze's eyes widened and his jaw fell open. Gently pulling away from his slackened grip, I left him standing at the rock with a few parting words. "Even if you don't trust me, trust what I've told you tonight."

With a final glance backwards, I saw that he looked almost shell-shocked as he processed my words. Not wanting to leave him like that, I added one last word.

"Goodnight,"

I hoped I hadn't just lost my number one ninja-slash-husbando.

* * *

 **A/N To those that requested more of this. Setting aside my sarcasm for a moment, and I know it probably seems silly to make such a big deal about this, but thank you. I really did want to continue this, and keeping it locked away in Google Drive just isn't satisfying enough. I want the chance that somebody, anybody, could find some enjoyment from my work. So thanks. Now for more of your regularly scheduled snark!**

 **So now for my me time, where I get to say whatever. Not that I wasn't doing that anyways.**

 **Okay, so maybe I didn't really follow up on the insinuation of boobs and butts that I made last time, but what can I say? I enjoy toying with expectations. And I never did actually state it would be fanservice-y, just that I had an idea for a hot spring scene and then mentioned boobs and butts. And then I went about characterizing Kaze and Liz with the potential of the situation. Expectations subverted, you're welcome.**

 **Now I want to know how many people wanted to read more because of my "boobs and butts" comment last time. No one's obligated to say, of course, but my inner cat's attention has been caught. I'm also curious as to how many of you Googled Pennsic. It's definitely worth it.**

 **I spend way too much time on tv tropes. It's an excellent way to kill free time, just make sure you've got at least an hour before attempting. And I don't suggest open more than a couple tabs at a time, unless you have half a day to spare.**

 **Until next time~  
-Storm 2017**


	3. I Haven't Forgotten

**A/N To Guest: I can understand your assumption, but I just take forever and a half to upload. My attention generally shifts from interest to interest for non-specific periods of time, during which I am much more likely to work on stories of that interest. I've mainly been focusing on Pokemon for the past few months, hence the lack of updating this. Hopefully I can continue to amuse you. I would have simply responded to your comment, except it's impossible if you don't have an account or aren't logged in.**

 **Until next time~**

* * *

To say the trip to Castle Shirasagi was awkward would be like saying the ocean is a little damp. It didn't help that, for some reason, we didn't have pegasi to ride. One of my escorts, a girl who wielded the naginata and seemed strikingly familiar, hand-waved it by saying the pegasi were undergoing their tri-annual training check and a good chunk were unavailable because of it. Something about ensuring they were properly trained and could be safely ridden by any soldier. But, they didn't know I wasn't Corrin until they'd arrived, so it still made no sense. It was probably just the world giving me the bird simply for existing.

Anyways, after our enlightening conversation, Kaze did his best to avoid me, which was not easy given how small the group was. When he did talk directly to me, it was nearly always with orders or gestures. I spent most of the time with Rinkah, silently praising Mila that I was no longer freezing my tits off and learning more details about the world that the games did not feel were important enough to include. Like how shaving was a pain in the ass due to straight razors. I _will_ have smooth legs, damnit! The functionality of vulenaries and other healing items were also interesting, as they were more like painkillers than anything. Very effective painkillers with rejuvenating properties that warded off infections and illness, but painkillers nonetheless.

We took a small break at the Great Wall of Susano-o, which made my heart ache because I couldn't play Okami. It was a sprawling building, but not as its Chinese inspiration would have you believe. Still, it was a wonderful work of architecture that served its purpose as a barrier. If Conquest was to be believed, then only the Mary-Sue Corn could motivate enough people to capture it.

Moving on, we finished the last stretch to the Hoshidan capital with no surprises. Speaking of which, the games conveniently gave no name for Hoshido's capital, or the continent that the countries even resided on. Which left me with the very embarrassing questions of 'What's the name of this continent?' and 'What's the name of the capital?'. And being the socially awkward nerd I was, I didn't actually end up asking. That being said, the Hoshidans escorting me did use the phrase "Shirasagi Town", so I assumed that either the castle was named after the city or vice versa. Probably the latter.

The capital itself was a joyous place, bursting with life. Cherry trees bloomed, vendors marketed their wares and water burbled through aqueducts. The streets still had plenty of shit on them, probably human and animal, and Duma it stank, but that was mostly on the busier roads. Speaking of, the roads themselves were either stone bricks or cobblestone, the former in the richer ends of town, with a central rut presumably for drainage when it rained. Even the slums were fairly bright, with laughing children chasing each other and a lax atmosphere.

Fortunately, I had the sight to pack my very Nohrian armor away (which led to the question of why they gave it back to begin with), though that didn't stop curious glances being thrown my way. The citizens seemed at ease, some even greeting the soldiers that surrounded me. I supposed that was a good thing. The citizens trusted their government and the protection they gave, but too much trust can be just as bad as none at all.

It took nearly an entire day just to reach Castle Shirasagi, a testament to how big the capital was. The castle itself was on top of a hill, tiered platforms cut into the slope to flatten it for construction. And it was a big hill. Not super steep, but it seemed to stretch on forever. I was breathing hard and ready to drop by the time we'd climbed up there, despite my considerable stamina growth since I'd gotten to Fateslandia.

One of my guards-slash-escorts-slash-captors had gone to inform the royals of the situation. Since it was so late, there were no rooms prepared for us in the castle, so the rest of us had to stay at a nearby inn for the night. Which, unfortunately, meant more walking.

It was a cozy place, not crowded but not desolate due to the time of night, reaching that perfect balance of murmuring conversation where you can talk comfortably to someone yet still be able to wander in your own thoughts uninterrupted. I was on my own in a corner of the common area, resting my legs in the hope they would be able to move when I wanted to sleep. The guards were taking turns making sure I didn't wander off, which allowed me to internally, and occasionally vocally, cuss out the world because of my exhaustion and stew over thoughts I'd previously been procrastinating thinking about. Mainly the Mikoto Dilemma.

The former Vallite woman wouldn't die because the Ganglari was in Valla, so I was either stuck in Hoshido pretending to have magic powers or I would have to somehow manage to get to the Bottomless Canyon on my own. Unless Azura brought Corrin through a lake, but that would raise way too many questions.

Speaking of, Corrin herself was the other big issue I was facing. There was nothing I could predict about the girl, bar she was there and an important variable, probably the single most important one. Nihil, zilch, nada. There was practically no consistent character for me to predict the actions of, or at least none that could help. Since she'd taken a tumble into Valla, she hadn't met the Hoshido royals and would have her dragon break-down somewhere else, if at all. But I couldn't do anything about the draconic princess until I'd met her. And there's nothing more dangerous to a plan than a wild card, especially one that's essential to the plan succeeding.

I let my head fall onto the table in front of me in exasperation. It kinda hurt, but not anymore than the headache my stressful thoughts were causing. Reaching into the bag hanging at my side, I fumbled around the big pocket. Where did I put those vulenaries I'd been supplied with…?

 _Why does_ everything _have to be so hard? Why couldn't I have been dropped in Echoes or Awakening or something? That would have been soooo much easier to deal with…_

"Are you well?" Someone put a hand on my forehead, sweeping stray hairs aside as they did so. My head jolted, batting the hand away as it did so, startled by the unexpected contact.

"Oh, er, Kaze," I struggled to think of words to explain myself to the ninja, who looked taken aback. The sudden shift in attention had left my mind completely blank. I was somewhat curious as well, given he had avoided me like the plague earlier. Then I realized it was probably his turn to babysit me.

"I was simply concerned for your health, considering your recent penchant for staring into space," he explained, most of the previous surprise replaced with mild concern. So he was checking for a fever or something.

"I'm just… preoccupied," I admitted carefully, not meeting his eye. Hopefully he wouldn't-

"With what?" the man asked with genuine, as far as I could tell, curiosity. Damnit Kaze. Why'd you have to up and interrupt my attempts at procrastinating about planning to saving the world?

"...nothing of concern," I shrugged flippantly, hoping my nonchalant tone would throw him off.

"Clearly it is if you're so distracted you didn't notice your dinner," he chuckled, gesturing to the plate of untouched chicken and rice next to me. My stomach growled accusingly at having realized I'd been neglecting it.

Damnit me! Stupid penchant for staring into space...

I could feel a blush of embarrassment rising to my cheeks as I slowly slid the dish towards me, Kaze watching on, clearly amused. Choosing to ignore that, I picked up the chopsticks on the plate and started probing the food. It appeared to be fairly simple meal, chicken and vegetables in an orange-tinted sauce over a bed of rice, and it smelled _heavenly_. I popped a piece of meat in my mouth.

" _Mmmm_ …" I moaned, savoring the flavor. It tasted just as good as it smelled; rich, sweet, tender. A dash of spice, but not overpowering the other ingredients. It was undoubtedly the best chicken I'd ever had.

"You use chopsticks well, for one who's never been to Hoshido before," the ninja observed as I picked up some of the sticky rice. It dropped from the sticks, much to the amusement of Kaze, who snorted quietly while trying to maintain his composed demeanor. I continued eating, despite my urge to seek revenge for him jinxing me.

"My home country is a melting pot of various cultures, including their cuisine and utensils," I ate another bite. Or, more accurately, picked up as much food as possible and shoveled it in my mouth. I took a swig from my waterskin to wash it down.

"Didn't I scare you off after our last conversation?" Insta awkward atmosphere. Nice going, me. Kaze cleared his throat, not bothering to look me in the eye.

"I figured to make the most of having to watch you," he murmured, just loud enough so I could hear.

"I don't bite. At least, not all that hard. I just happen to have a more dangerous bark than most," I mused to the silent ninja, who did nothing, continuing to stand behind me awkwardly. We were like that for at least a solid five minutes, the air so tense I could have sliced it with a butter knife. I was eating my food, though, so it wasn't too bad on my end.

"At least sit down," I eventually sighed, the silence too awkward even for me. A few moments later I felt the bench shift and saw his arms resting against the tabletop. Judging by how tense he was, I doubted he would speak first. The silence continued regardless, filled only by the background noise of the inn.

"I'm sure you have questions," I tried jump-starting the conversation again, if only to break the atmosphere. I was getting pretty tired of Kaze skirting around the topic, and me, and I had to do what I could to tip the scales in my favor.

"I can't deny it," he sighed, the tension releasing from his shoulders as he slumped closer to the table with the breath.

"Buuuuuuuuuut?"

"I don't know if I want to hear the answers," I laughed at his response, attempting to play into my 'eccentric prophetess' persona, which wasn't all that hard to do. My mannerisms were already alien to them, so all I had to do was seem mystically knowledgeable.

"An interesting conclusion," I mused again. "I'm sure I have answers to a few of them, but at the moment I doubt they would make sense." I took another bite of my food. It was starting to cool off.

"Well…" the ninja started slowly. "Could you elaborate on one detail?"

"Shoot," I felt I was going to regret that.

"What did you mean by how," he lowered his voice, "King Garon was not to blame?" the entire inn seemed to go silent at the mere mention of the king who had long-since become little more than a glorified puppet. The background chatter resumed again. I contemplated the question, on whether or not I could trust any more top-secret otherworldly information to the Abel. I was definitely going to regret this.

"Why, isn't it obvious?" I looked at him pointedly, with a bemused smile on my face. He stared blankly, as though I was insane. Which, to be fair, I probably was. I waited a beat before responding.

"There's a third party at play." Kaze blinked at me.

"Of course there is," he answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. The smile fell from my lips, my somewhat real hubris over all the information I knew kicking itself in the shins, repeatedly. "I want to know exactly who that third party is, and what they hope to achieve."

I shook my head. "Sorry, no can-do. That's off-limits until a later date."

"But why? What is preventing you from saying?" I tapped my chin a few times, Anna style, as I thought of an appropriate response.

"It's a combination of now being the wrong time and place, and a few other undisclosable reasons."

 _Like people not believing me because I'd sound bat-shit crazy. And the curse, I guess._

And, yup, he was looking at me with disappointment and annoyance, mostly annoyance. Finishing the last of my meal, I stood.

"Look, it's been a long few weeks, and I'm tired. Talk to you tomorrow," I excused myself from our increasingly uncomfortable conversation. If Kaze followed, I wouldn't have known or cared.

Carefully climbing the stairs, I went to the room which I shared with two of my guards. One was the naginata wielder, Emma as she had introduced herself, and the other a samurai. Rinkah and the other women shared another room, and the men were split between two more.

The room was already occupied, with Emma sitting cross-legged on her tonfoon inspecting her naginata, which was lying in her lap. There was a small container of weapon oil in front of her, and the burlap that usually covered the blade of the lance-like weapon was carelessly tossed to the side.

 _Out of the frying pan and into the fire…_

At the start, I'd enjoyed her curious nature and company, but that soon began chaffing at my patience when she started asking questions I couldn't answer, like where my homeland was and various inquisitions about the near future; how was _I_ supposed to know what she would eat tomorrow?! Eventually I started brushing them off with a 'future knowledge is not to be trifled with', which seemed to work well enough. And she was so freaking innocent and naive, I felt sorry for when she was going to understand exactly what being a soldier meant.

Emma was a slender girl, too young to be a full soldier. If I remembered right, at one point she said she was an apprentice pegasus knight. She had brunette hair, which was pulled away from her face with a red ribbon. Her bangs waved back and forth as she vigorously polished the steel head of the naginata, too focused on her task to notice the door slide open.

Sitting quietly on my own mat, a realization crossed my mind. It had bugged me the entire trip how familiar the girl was, but I couldn't remember any character in fates with the name 'Emma'. But, I'd figured it out. It was because... Insert a dramatic pause here… she was from the Cipher TCG. Big shocker, I know. I felt stupid I hadn't thought of it before, but I had a few semi-viable excuses. Like… being busy procrastinating planning? Yeah, that. Obviously.

"Oh, Liz! I didn't see you come in," Emma cheerily greeted me as she finished with the naginata, placing it off to the side with its cover back on.

 _Kinda the point._

"It's fine," I mumbled as nicely as I could. I liked the girl, I really did. I just couldn't deal with her for more than a few hours. Overly chatty people tended to batter by tolerance for humanity.

Faking a yawn, I made a show of flopping back. Emma, the smart girl, made the prudent choice of leaving me be.

* * *

A hand grabbed my arm, shaking me back and forth in an attempt to dissipate the effects of sleep.

 _Just five more minutes…_

"Rise and shine, Liz!" Someone yelled into my ear. I bolted upright into a sitting position.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" Was my confused response as I attempted to make sense of my surroundings with a groggy mind. A cheery grin that completely juxtaposed my mood came into focus, followed by its owner, the one who had given me a rude awakening. Emma was smiling brightly, oblivious to the fact I was giving her my best death glare.

"Oh, good! We've got to prepare for your audience with Lord Ryoma next week,"

"I thought it was with Queen Mikoto," I complained sluggishly, trying to rub the blurr from my eyes, not that it was helping much. Then my brain decided to register the last bit.

"What do you _mean_ it's next week?!" I asked incredulously, much more alert from the alarming news.

"That was the soonest they could schedule it," Emma shrugged, clearly unperturbed by my tone. This was the fate of the world, how could anything be more impor- oh right. They didn't know and I couldn't say shit.

I am _not_ a morning person.

Sifting through her words more carefully, I picked out another phrase of interest.

"What do you mean by 'prepare'?" The moment Emma opened her mouth to answer, I knew for certain I wasn't going to like it.

* * *

Turns out I was right. I didn't like it. I _hated_ it. And what, per say, were these preparations? The first part wasn't so bad, just shopping for presentable clothes, and I would go so far as to call it fun. What can I say? I like Kimonoes. But then the horrors started rolling in; lessons on Hoshidan etiquette. With only slight exaggeration, I was completely overloaded with information.

Basically, I had to be as humble as I could convincingly manage while still appearing like I had a backbone. There were other more nuanced mannerisms, but that was the gist. Not humble enough and they would think me rude. Too much of a doormat and they wouldn't take me seriously.

The best part was that we got moved to the palace guest rooms, though I still had at least one babysitter at all times. It was usually Kaze, for some reason. Rinkah was probably somewhere too, but I didn't see her. Mostly because of those infernal classes.

When the day of the audience arrived, I was shaking with anticipation, adrenaline and nervousness, which definitely wasn't going to help. It would be a miracle if I could even talk without my voice breaking.

A knock on my door signified Kaze was entering.

"It's time," he nodded solemnly. Needling no further prompting, I followed out, having prepared myself earlier in the day. Which mostly consisted of a couple handmaidens making sure I hadn't fucked up putting on the kimono, one of them applying liberal amounts of heavy makeup to my face, and another attempting to put my hair up. When I'd started growling as she touched the lockes, she decided it was in her best interest not to mess with it, instead positioning a few hair ornaments instead.

Kaze lead me through the corridors at a relatively slow pace, as I kept tripping in the unfamiliar sandals and robes. He had the graciousness not to comment on it.

As we approached what I assumed to be the audience hall, a man in rich clothes exited, followed closely by a dark-haired Samurai and a bluenette woman who was either a spear fighter or a pegasus knight, given the naginata slung over her back.

I had to do a double-take to realize it was Takumi, the pineapple prince himself, and his retainers. They brushed past without so much as a glance, not really surprising.

Standing outside the doors themselves, Kaze studied me out of the corner of his eye. Almost as if he was trying to gauge a reaction. Then he opened the doors, and we entered.

* * *

"L-lord Ryoma; It is an honor to meet you," I greeted the swordmaster as formally as my tongue and nerves would allow without making a fool of myself. Scratch that, I sounded completely and utterly terrified, mainly because I was. That fucking stutter was back, which wasn't helping either. I've always had a verbal tick; structuring what I wanted to say ahead of time, then completely flubbing the lines I'd been saying in my head, usually with the stutter.

"Stand," He commanded. Short and to the point, but not harsh or needling. We did as we were told, and I looked up the short few steps of the dias. There, along with the Hoshidan throne, was the mighty High Prince of Hoshido, Ryoma. He was naturally intimidating, being over six foot with a ridiculous amount of hair, but the red headdress that had earn him the title 'Lobster Lord' was not helping my anxiety either.

"So, traveler… your claims are great. Can you live up to them, or will you fall short?"

"Both Rinkah, the daughter of the Flame tribe's chieftain, and the ninja Kaze can vouch for my abilities," I avoided the question and his gaze, which Ryoma seemed to notice.

"I am afraid you will have to do better than that,"

Drawing myself up to my full height, which was pretty average, I raised my chin and looked directly into Ryoma's eyes.

"Princess Hinoka has, on at least several occasions, attempted to sneak out of the palace to save Princess Kamui on her own. Each time she was stopped by either yourself or Queen Mikoto." The prince blinked in surprise, the only indication this was uncommon knowledge.

"So, you wish to be able to assist in the returning of my sister?" He inquired cautiously, arching a brow. Good. He was at least thinking of the idea.

"Yes. I can see into the past, and by extension can likely predict the future." That was the explanation I was sticking to. It would cover how I knew what I wasn't supposed to, but allow me to fuck up and not instantly come under suspicion.

"What motivations could you have for offering your services to us instead of, say, Nohr?" the prince questioned.

"Nohr is a violent country. My morals prevent me from ever considering working for them." That and Nohr was effectively under Anankos's control, and the silent dragon would likely have me arbitrarily executed before I could save the world.

"And what of your timing? Why would you, a stranger from another land, suddenly wish to work for a country on the brink of war with another?" Ryoma continued to interrogate me, which was essentially what he was doing despite the pretenses. It was common sense to do so, given I was pretty suspicious, but it was still making my life a million times harder.

"I simply want to save as many lives as I can, and if that means ending a conflict faster I'll do so." God I'm so glad I learned how to bullshit my way through job interviews. It was coming in handy, considering this was probably the most important job I'd ever requested. No… bargained for? Probably more accurate.

"I will require further proof of these abilities before anything else. Predict" Ryoma said with finality. Fine by me, I could talk circles about all kinds of topics nobody but the royals knew. But I would save those for later, else the Hoshidans saw me as a liability instead of a boon.

"...Lord Ryoma, can I have a moment?" He nodded, understanding my intent. I took a deep breath, again pretending to use some power beyond the physical world. Closing my eyes, I lifted my chin. After a moment of silence and me pretending to strain myself, they snapped open, and I spoke with urgency.

"Your sisters Sakura and Hinoka are in danger, or soon will be. They are to be set upon by faceless." While his emotions remained mostly behind a poker-face, his eyes betrayed him, and he tightened his grip on the mythical katana Raijinto. I was afraid he would whip out the blade to cut off my head.

As if on cue, a generic Samurai rushed into the throne room, hastily kneeling.

"My Lord! I have urgent news. We are under attack from the North!" The messenger said, face remaining angled towards the ground. "They have targeted the province in which your sisters are currently located."

Ryoma looked as though he were about to respond, but was stopped a soothing voice.

"Go, Ryoma. Your sisters need you." Mikoto insisted calmly from the side of the audience room, where she had apparently entered without either of us noticing. She was beautiful, a gentle kindness almost ingrained into her twinkling eyes and slightly creased face.

"We would love to have your skills," She addressed me that time, an inviting graciousness in the tones.

"Thank you for this chance, Lady Mikoto," I lowered my head in respect until I heard a wonderful chiming sound; it was Mikoto's laugh, which was scarily realistic to actual wind chimes.

"No, none of that," The Queen chided gently, walking over to me and, leaning over, lifted my chin. "Since you are now in my employment, you are not to be groveling in the dirt like a peasant." Her smile was welcoming now, a silent invitation to feel comfortable. Up until that point, tension had been coiling in my stomach, but Mikoto wiped that away. She was not a Queen. No, she was a mother. She was a mother first and foremost, and she cared for each and every person in Hoshido as her own child. There was no need to be anxious or nervous. Everything would work out somehow.

"Are you sure, Mother?" Ryoma's voice shattered my moment of complete inner peace, my gut twisting itself into a knot again. Damn nerves… I've never been good around intimidating people. Until I actually get to know them, I can be really anxious around them. But even then, there was no guarantee. It was impossible for Mikoto to not have sensed my discomfort.

"Yes, this is what I wish," She confirmed for her eldest, then turned to address the guards stationed in the room, her voice projecting so they could all hear. "What has just happened here stays in these walls. It is not to be spoken of as a precaution, lest Nohr catch wind of our newfound advantage." Looking back at me, she spoke again, in a softer tone.

"Come with me, Elizabeth. Let us walk." I nodded numbly, following behind the queen like a lost duckling. I could practically feel Ryoma's gaze burning on my back as we left, and I could faintly hear him requesting someone to assemble a team of Sky Knights.

The Queen motioned for me to follow her through the apparent side door she had come through, and I could hear a couple of guards following. I tried to count the twists and turns we made, as more for amusement for my bored mind than actually keeping track of where we were, my gaze firmly on the ground.

 _Left, right, straight, left, straight, right..._

Eventually it became too much for my brain to handle and I just took to focusing on small details. The tiny, almost unnoticeable but inescapable indentations in the passing paper doors, the scent of cherry blossoms that occasionally wafted through the air, the intricate headpiece Mikoto wore. I only snapped out of my bored trance when she stopped. Fortunately for me, there were a good ten feet between us, mainly because guards with pointy sticks, so it wasn't like I had any chance of running into her.

The Queen had lead me to a large open-air garden of sorts, complete with cherry trees in full bloom and a trickling stream with a bridge. There was a sand garden in the far corner. It was quite idyllic, with a few of the pink petals floating downwards to rest on the ground. It struck me that it was probably the map you faced Hinoka in in Conquest. Mikoto smiled comfortingly at me again, then nodded towards the base of the largest tree, which had a comfortable looking wicker bench beneath. With a small gesture, she bade the guards to stand at the entrance, pointedly out of hearing range. Mikoto sat on the bench, while I remained standing.

"There's nothing to fear," the Queen smiled at me. "Come, sit with me, Elizabeth." I obliged, sitting on the edge. I started wringing my hands. The left one's pads felt coarser than the other's.

"I… My Lady-" Mikoto cut me off with a soft shush.

"Do you know how my future sight works?" The question caught me off guard, so I answered with a silent shake of the head.

"I can… 'see' the most likely paths for the future to take, given nothing is done to change it," I nodded along attentively, "Just over a month ago, I felt such despair would befall my country, but only a short time later that despair was transformed to a seed of hope. I am sure you can guess what happened when I saw you," she smiled sadly at me, as though she had just put a weight on my shoulders and wanted to help, but knew there was nothing she could do. Which was exactly what happened, given that I now had the expectations of _the most powerful person in Hoshido_ to follow through with.

The queen turned, looking out at the murmuring water, when a glazed look came into her eyes, like a trance. It was as though she were seeing beyond what was physically there. It only lasted a few seconds, but was still noticeable.

"...What was that?" I couldn't help asking.

"The seed of hope has grown, if only a little. It seems the future has shifted more in our favor," she sighed in relief, some evident in her melodic voice. "I am glad my speaking to you has helped my kingdom's chances."

"So you took a gamble by taking me in, especially since you know absolutely nothing about me?" I commented, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I suppose that is true," Mikoto giggled, before continuing in a more serious tone. "Is there anything I can provide to assist?"

"You assume I have a plan, Lady Mikoto," I said is a somewhat teasing tone. The queen looked surprised at first, then a slightly mischievous smile came upon her lips and a new light danced in her eyes.

"Have you not one? Given your impressive abilities, it would be shocking you would not." Her tone was light, as though she was enjoying the small informalities.

"Well, I've an ever changing half-baked one that'll more likely than not end in disaster, but that doesn't really count." I shrugged.

"Then again I ask: what do you need?"

"You don't want to hear my plan?" I asked quizzically. It made no sense, given how she was essentially trusting me with Hoshido, her home and country's, future.

Mikoto laughed before answering. "You forget I am a mother. I can tell when someone is unwilling to share their thoughts with me. Even if it is sudden and very unwise, I am needed to trust this to you." There was an undertone of bitterness in her voice, as though…

"You can already feel your death, can't you?" I realized, my eyes widening as I realized the implications. There was now a rueful look on the queen's face.

So she _was_ going to die. I could already feel a weight lifting from my shoulders as previously uncertain pieces of my plan locked into place. And I felt relieved because of it. I was _relieved_ someone as kind-hearted as Mikoto was going to be slain in cold blood, and it terrified me.

"... for starters, I'll need access to training grounds, books on battle tactics, and a guide to keep me from getting lost." I steeled my resolve as I listed off a few items of importance, pushing my moral conundrums to the backburner. They were much less important than the literal entire world. The well-being of one for those of many, I suppose.

… What perks did I get for effectively being one of Mikoto's retainers?

* * *

 **A/N I'm back, sort of. This was about as far as I got with working ahead for this (and you can see how long it took to get this one out…), so there'll probably be an even longer gap between the next one. Knowing my own tendencies, it'll be a while.**

 **But, you can't say I abandoned this project. I do intend to update every once in awhile. A comment prompted me to finally get off my ass and finish this chapter, so who knows. Maybe another will prompt me further (** _ **hint hint wink wink nudge nudge**_ **).**

 **On the actual topic of the story, yes I am adding in the TCG characters, mainly because I'm taking _out_ the child units. They just won't fit into the story as-is. It'll be difficult enough to effectively build relationships between the adult units, much less the intricacies of parental relationships and complications.**

 **So, until next time~**


	4. FFN is dUMB

Alright, so in the past day or so, there's been a hacker that managed to get into the javascript for user profile pages. This 'infection' changed your bio to "I support Critics United" repeated multiple times, then later displayed "I did not use common sense, thus I was punished", also repeated. Then things got _worse_ , since the hacker is trying to add an email to the 'infected' profiles.

Complete radio silence from the admins, of course.

There are some Reddit posts on this that are a lot more informative than I am, and I _would_ have linked them if FFN wasn't dumb, but I digress.

If you don't click on a profile that's infected, or are logged out when you do so, you'll be unaffected, but it's the sheer fact that this is happening that's making me jump ship. All my stories will still be here, but I won't update them anymore. I _will_ be active on Archive Of Our Own, though, under the same username.

For this story in particular, I will post it there eventually, but it's going through some heavy revisions due to how I've got an actual story to tell, instead of just me messing around. It'll still be funny, but there'll be more to to than just that. Hang in there, I promise I'm working on it.

So that's what this all is about. See ya', I guess.

Peace out~


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